Contents

In S.A.3434 the Allies entered Mordor. The Orcs that survived the slaughter at Dagorlad were surrounded in Barad-dûr, Sauron's dark stronghold. There, the forces of Gil-galad, Elendil and Thranduil laid siege to the tower, but could not breach its gates.

Sauron put together a strong defence with a seemingly unexhaustible supply of projectile and sorties throughout seven years, during which the Allies suffered heavy casualties. In S.A.3440, Anárion's helmet was crushed by a thrown rock resulting in his death.

A year later, however, Sauron went out with a sortie himself, and broke the leaguer. He came to Mount Doom, where the two kings, Gil-galad and Elendil, fought with him. Narsil, the sword of Elendil, broke in two beneath him as he fell. Gil-galad's face was burned by the heat of Sauron's hand but nonetheless Sauron was defeated.

Isildur cut The One Ring from his finger with the hilt of his fathers blade. The battle marked the (temporary) passing of Sauron, and the beginning of the Third Age. Gil-galad's heralds Círdan and Elrond advised Isildur to destroy the Ring by throwing it in the fires of Mount Doom. But instead Isildur replied: This I will have as weregild for my father's death, and my brother's. Was it not I who dealt the Enemy his death-blow?[1]

With the death of Gil-galad, the Noldor were without a King as he left no heir. Elrond and Círdan returned to Lindon. Relations between Elves and Men worsened due to the deaths of Gil-Galad and Elendil, and also Isildur's taking of the ring. The Last Alliance as it came to be known, would be the last time Elves would go to open war in Middle Earth ever again. The relationship between Men and Elves wouldn't be as close as they were in the first and second ages and never wholly repaired because the Elves were leaving Middle-Earth for Aman.

Isildur remained in Minas Tirith some time[2]. When he did return North, he and his sons were ambushed. The Ring was lost in the tumult.[3]

Since the Ring was not unmade, Sauron was not completely destroyed: his spirit was able to live on. In the Third Age, he reassumed physical shape, and regained most of his old realm and allies.

This film also compresses the Battle of Dagorlad, the Siege, and the final duel into one, and, for convenience reasons, places them all at Mount Doom, in a prologue similar to that of the 1978 film. The main perspective of the entire prologue - One Ring to rule them All - lies with Elrond. The death of Gil-galad is not mentioned, Anárion is cut completely, and the deaths of Elendil and Sauron are rewritten: after coming forth, Sauron wreaks havoc among the Elves and Men, and a blow from his mace throws Elendil against the mountainside, killing him. Isildur tries to take up Narsil, but it breaks as Sauron steps on it. In a desperate strike, Isildur slashes the Ring, and four fingers, from Sauron's hand. Sauron's body sends a shockwave over the land and dissolves into nothingness.

In a later scene, aptly named The Fate of the Ring, Elrond tells Gandalf of the final debate with Isildur, inside Mount Doom. Círdan is not present, and Isildur refuses by simply saying "No".